The Sun. — London, England, 1864-09-09 00:00:00

THE BOUT HERN CONFEDERATION. (From the limes' Special Correspondent) CONFEDERATE CAMP, NEAR PETERS BURG, VIRGINIA, Aug. 5. It se ems to me impossible that this present month can end without witnessing great shifting of the pieces rpon the chessboard of war in Virginia. Your resiclers cannot fail to have perceived that the army which nominally menaces Richmond from beyond P' etersbarg is virtually besieged rather than besieging, and is not only harmless, but actually pent up by General Lee within one of the most pes tilential swamps which anywhere poisons the au tumnal breeze upon the southern bank of the James River. It has long been a farce to pretend that " On to Richmond". was any longer the cry of the once arrogant but now emasculated host, welch has been reduced from fifties to tens of thousands by the savage and self-exhausting impulse imparted to this campaign in the month of May by General Grant. It is indisputable that the Federals long ago discovered the hopelessness of getting into either Richmond or Petersburg above ground along the southern bank of the James River. It became necessary, therefore, to fan the sinking embers of hope and excite the ready credulity of the benighted Northern public by mysterious promises in their journals that " a great Napoleonic device —a start• hog and paralysing development" was in conteme plation by General Grant ; and for several weeks past the key to this mystery has been in General Lee's possession by his knowledge of the fact that extensive mining operations against portions of his eorthworks had been commenced and were in active progress. Unable to prevail by an advance above ground, General Grant repeated the poli cy w hi ch had reduced Vicksburg 12 months ago, and betook himself to burrowing. Your readers will have learnt long before the ar rival of this letter that lien. Grant's secret eclatait on the 30th ult., when his first mine eiploded under the salient of the earthworks held by the Confede rate division of Gen. Hoke. It cannot be denied that the engineers of Gen. Lee's army were at fault in their calculations as to the rapidity with which the Federal tunnel was being carried forward. It was believed that the mine, the approach of which at this particular point was as well known to Gen. 2.ee as to Gen. Grant, would not be completed for a w eek or 10 days. Counter preparations were in pr ogress, but had not attained a sufficiently ad vat‘ced stage to effect their purpose of intercepting the' burrowers. The Federals deserve credit for the awifi'ness and silence of their subterranean opera tions. Much is said in Northern journals about the short-1. andled pickaxes necessary for working in a tunnel little more than four feet high. It is here believed that the great silence of the miners, as they wormed their way under Pegram's bat tery and baffled the vigilant ears in the Confede rate listening galleries, was obtained by their entire abandonment in the advanced portion of their work of the pick, and their employment of what are called in the Western prairies " post-thole angres," or cir cular hand-borers, by which the earth is perforated screw fashion, with a view to the sinking of posts. Ey means of these noiseless angres, driven horizon tally instead of (as when they are employed above ground) vertically the tunnel crept forward, and the charge of powder was deposited at a depth of about 22 feet beneath the soles of the unconscious rebels. Then followed, with the earliest dawn of Saturday last, the explosion which was to have struck terror to the heart of rebeldom. And here, for the hundredth time since the date of my first letter from Secessia, I must disabuse the English public of the impression which, if they have read the letters in the New York journals they have been likely to form about the shock of the explosion. It might be imagined, were credit given to these sensational narrators, that the crust of the soil was rent as by a volcano, that Grant had pressed an earthquake into his service, and that a rumbling roar, such as shook Lisbon to its founda tions in 175,5, was heard for miles around. Nothing of the kind was actually experienced. At General Lee's head-quarters, not more than two miles from the explosion, the report was hardly, if at all, audible. Out of the four guns which composed the battery in the salient two were blown into the air. it is not believed that more than from 20 to 30 Con federates were uplifted by the hot breath of the mine sprung beneath their feet. It is the universal opinion of experienced Confederate officers that really steady troops would not have been shaken out of a work which was only injured to the extent of blowing up two guns and some 25 men. No breach was made in the integrity of the outer line of earthworks by the explosion, which took effect within the enceinte of the salient. If the gunners of the two remaining pieces had stood firmly to their work and poured grape and canister into the advancing masses of Federals, and if they had been supported by the Confederate infantry just behind the salient, it is probable that no lodgment would ever have been effected by Grant within the Con federate lines. As it was, the defenders of the salient, being a portion of one of the least steady Confederate brigades, were Staggered by the suds denness and novelty of the explosion, and re coiled before the swiftly advancing columns of the 9th Federal corps. The crater of the mine, being about 120 ft. in length and 75ft. in width, belched forth dark curls of smoke, and yawned grimly, as though conscious of the bloody mass of humanity which was shortly to be discharged into and swallowed up within its ragged and sulphurous cavity. Again, let me correct an error which has found credence even among thoughtless readers in Rich mond. It is stated that the Federal negro troops, as they were carried into the Confederate works by the dense mass of white associates which environed them, shouted fiercely " No quarter !" " Remember Fort Pillow !" and other similar battle cries. In a community like this, where negro nature is well known alann, and understo o d, it i s s t range th at suc h a tale Ks have obtained a moment's credence. I do not believe thattd such terrified wretches were ev er lured onward str uction as the miserable negroes who are st arved in to the F e d era l ran k s, and who are still b e li eved by many excellent persons in Eng land likely t o gai n a liberty, which th e y can ne ith er improve nor un d erstand blessed l egac y d er i ve d from all the blood s h ed and a negro could lnia er3' of this war. To " conceive that the cherish such vindic tiveness as to rem ember Fort Pillow's is to assume that ha possesses the courage and will not B share the em o ti ons of the Anglo - Saxon, I ayf more at this mome nt than that it is impossible for those wh o have watched this American War closely beginning to com e t o a ny other conclusion from that in fromthe it will in the end reveal the hollown ess and cerity of Northern negro philanthropy by exhibiti nge to the world what manner of soldiers Mrs. Stowe and her coadjutors have made out of the Af r i cans , and, secondly, by exhibiting what must be the n u . ture of the slavery against which neither impunity, nor opportunity, nor temptation, nor cupidity, nor three and a half years of war's disturbing influences, have sufficed to make 4,000,000 of slaves attempt_to rebel. It is hardly necessary to state :that the " no quarter" of the Federal negro was inaudible to the Confederate officers who stood nearest to them. The explosion of the mine to ok p lace before 5 o'clock in the morning, and, within a quarter of an h our of its occurrence, the salient Was occupied by from 12,000 to 15,000 Federal troops. Bat from that moment forward until the work was regained by the Confederates, about 2 o'clock, General Grant found himself unable to reinforce his troops. Such was the fire of the Confederate artillery issuing from the lines leading up to the captured salient that it swept away every formation of men which emerged from the Federal earthworks. The body of Fede rals, had they been suffered to remain until night, would undoubtedly have been largely reinforced above ground or below by the following morning But at ;bo u t 2 o'clock, General 149 P, after on e : l in g - . successful attack Opca the aggressors ebunt noon, ordered Mahone to rn•lks short work with them. There are few nam es more deserving of European . notice than that of Mahone. He is, as an executive offleer, eonepicuonsly the hero of the Campaign in Virginia of 1364. Advancing along the line oh earthworks which led tip to the ,Federal rink Mahone flung a brigade of Alabamians upon them, and the struggle wad alrneet instantly at an end. At the first onset of the Confederates, many of the panic-struck negroes (who numbered 2,200 in all) crowded into the empty crater of the ei ae, and cowered down in abject terror. As the Confederate soldiers, infuriated by the passions of battle and maddened by being for the first tima in their lives engaged hand to hand with negroeF, ',need their way up to the ghastly hole, into which wounded, dead, and shrinking men had together been thrust, a scene ensued which baffles description. Confede rate officers who have witnessed this war from the commencement, and who have seen "on horror's head horrors accumulate," tell me that their eyes have rested on no such other scene. Here and there, a few white Federals, who did not share the panic of their black associates, kept firing from the edge of the pit, while volley after volley was poured by the Confederates into the writhing, quivering conglomeration of black and white humanity which struggled and died in this hole of horro r . O u t o f 2,200 negroes carried into the Confederate salient at five o'clock in the morning the Federals are said to have regained only 900. Three hundred were taken, and are now held prisoners by the Code. derates ; the rest, that is to say 1,000, perished in and about the Cave of Despair which I have at tempted to describe. His "great Napoleonic device" cost Gen. Grant very dear. Including the negroes, he must have lost, when his troops were driven out by General Mahone, not less than 5,000 men, killed, wounded, and taken prisoners. It is not, I think, presump. tuous to predict that any fresh attempts at mining will cost the Federals still dearer. The experience of the 30th of July has so quickened the energies of the Confederate engineers, that I do not believe they will be caught tripping again. Posbibly, before this letter reaches England, the truth of these words will have received a pointed illustration. It is stated in the Northern journals that the charge of powder employed was six tons, bat it is believed by General Lee's engineers that a charge of one ton would have been amply adequate for the purpose. As upon many previous occasions, so again in this instance, I feel bound to remark that an English military engineer would gain much by inspecting the mining and countermining operations now in progress at Petersburg. The lessons of the most gigantic war of modern times, involving the only material blockade established since the intro duction of steam, and military and naval operations of the most diversified character, extending over the largest canvas ever stretched by Bellona, will have to be gathered from the hurried, imperfect, and ne cessarily inaccurate reports of newspaper corres pondents. It is obvious that since the failure of his mine the hopelessness of General Grant's prospects as regards Richmond cannot be concealed even from the hood winked people of Broadway and Chestnut-street. I believe that if President Lincoln remained undis turbed or unthreatened in Washington, his impulse would be to retain General Grant and his army in their present position on the Appomattox and James, and to keep on promising a new and more startling development, if the people would only swal low it until after they have re-elected him on the 4th November. But unless lam mistaken, in addition to General Early, who is protecting the Shenandoah Valley and its bountiful crops, and to General Lee who seems likely with the bulk of his army still to face Grant before Petersburg, President Lincoln is likely to have a third Confederate army on his hands. We shall witness either the heavy reinforce ment of Early and his march with a large army into Pennsylvania, or the operation of another distinct force against Washington. At any rate it seems to me very improbable that Grant will be able to re. main where he is until the end of next month. With a comparatively small force General Lee will protect Petersburg and Richmond, and will worry his oppo nents to death by threatening Washington from the Valley, and possibly elso from Orange Court-house. It must be remembered that the railroads leading north from Richmond to Gordonsville and Culpepper Court-house are repaired and again in working order. It is to the credit of an nnmechanical and dilatory people like the Southerners that they have shown such fertility of resource and energy in new and untried fields. All the railroads into Richmond have at times been cut; all are at this moment re paired and in active running order, At no moment, since the commencement of May, has General Lee been in so great a degree lord of the ascendant in Virginia as at present, Hence I conclude, instead of imitating Grant's strategy and dashing his head against the strong fortifications of his enemy, he will unfit Grant's grasp upon Petersburg and Rich mond by making his presence imperatively necese nary elsewhere. It will have been remarked in England that the longstiffering forbearance which has been manifested by the Confederates, whenever they have left the Potomac to their south, is at last exhausted. I have often had occasion to call the attention of your readers to the savage excesses of warfare which in every insurgent State the Federal armies have prac tised, encouraged by Vie applause of ninestenths of the journals of the North, by the fiery pulpit elo quence of their slaughter-breeding clergy, and by the vindictive approbation of what in every other country is called the softer sex. Atrocities which in Europe would have roused the House of Com. mons to madness fall upon dull and insensate ears when the report of them is wafted across the At lantic. But there is one feature in these excesses of the Federals which shows that their perpetrators evidently believe that Confederate forbearance has been dictated only by fear. I allude to the increased ferocity and irresponsibility to outside public opinion which each successive Federal General has mania fested. When I was at Winchester in June of last year, listening to story after story about the enormities of Milroy,l little thought that before 12 months Winchester would sigh for Milroy as though he were an angel, Although Butler still reigns supreme as prince of ruthless and cowardly tyrants, he has a formidable rival and competitor in Gen. Hunter. It seems that the raid of this last worthy in June to the neighbourhood of Lynch. burg, his destruction of Governor Letcher's house at Lexington, his outrage on the statue of Wash ington, his insolence to women wherever he en. countered them, have combined to inflame even such a merciful man as Gen. Lee, and to exhibit to him the necessity of fighting the devil with fire. The burning of the town of Chambersburg, in Pennsylvania, is but the first of many similar acts, unless some marked difference of animus in the con duct of the war is breathed hereafter into the Federal Generals by the authorities at Washington. Dark, indeed, are tne prospects of this continent, if another year of this increasingly ruthless and em bittered war be in store for her. Towns, houses, and barns of non-combatants, which in civilised warfare have for 50 years been sacred, will, in the old Scottish border language, "hear the red cock "ow," and mark, by their ruddy glare, the track ooff The:apt:r m f a for miles At Atid and e miles rs o n v a i l loi e , in along either Georgia, Salisbury, in North C aro li na , an d man y ot h er spot s o f Seceasia' no less than 40,000 Federal prisone rs that 30,000 Confederate are held i durance. It is believed her e de tained in th e North, and althou g h th e b a l ance o f : p o isoners are similarly prisoners i s against th e m, to consent. B u t o f this indisposition great as is the insensibilit y o on their part, human which it reveals, ther e i s an easy :or, f t l o v Stanton and the Cabin e t no exchange can Mr ashington be brought explanation. It to is known that out of th e 30,000 Conf soners, every man, if exch anged, Would eturn to Pri. the ranks; it is also known th at t h e term of ni of the 40,000 Federal prisoners ha s exp ired,antd that neither persuasion nor money would induce r them to shoulder a musket again. Think of the suffering and anguished hearts implied in the detention as prisoners, .always under c i rcumstances of trial, of ten under circumstances of cruelty, of seventy thousand men ! Well might an American statesman close in weariness and despair the map of this conticent, as Mr Pitt closed the map of Europe, after Austerlitz, and sigh over the havoc which three short years of war and rapine have worked in prospects such as, before the election of Mr Lincoln, had no parallel among the other civilised nations of the globe 1 I will defer until my ne xt letter any detailed state ments of the brightening prospects of Gen. Hood and his army b e foe eetw a te, merely adding that at THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 9, 1864. last the great and powerful State of Georgia seem thoroughly aroused, and that while Gen. Sherman has as yet received no reinforcements, it is believed that every day brings an accession of strength to Gen. Hood. I regret to add that an unfavourable report of Gen. Longstreet's health has reached me. He is described as suffering greatly from the acute sensitiveness of his right arm, which is still wholly paralysed, I fear that there is little chance of his being able for many weeks, if not months to come, to resume his active duties in the field. Inspector-General Cooper issued at Richmond on the 15th inst. an order setting forth that, " It being understood that there are a great number of foreigners entrapped by artifice and fraud into the military and naval service of the United States who would gladly withdraw from further participation in the inhuman warfare against a people who have never given them a pretext for hostility, and that there are also many inhabitants of the United States who are now detained against their will in that service," all such persons are invited to come within the lines of the Confederate armies, and are assured of subsistence and safe transportation to some point in the Border States from whence they can make their escape. On the morning of the 21st General Forrest, with 3,000 Confederate cavalry, dashed suddenly into Memphis and captured 30 officers and 250 men. The garrison, numbering 900 men, took refuge in the neighbouring forts; and Generals Washburn, Hurlbut, and Buckland, who were in the city, nar■ rowly escaped capture. After holding the city for about two hours and sacking the military head quarters:and storehouses, Forrest left, taking with him considerable plunder. It is said that the gar rison offered but little resistance, being poorly officered. Railway and Other Companies, EDINBURGH AND GLASGOW. The directors of this company, in their report, state that the receipts for the half-year ending the 31st of July last amounted to £93,712 for passengers, against £91,100 in the corresponding period of 1863; to £101,009 for goods and minerals, against £95,629; showing an increase in the re ceipts for passengers, goods, and minerals of £7,992. The receipts for parcels amounted to £5,839, against £5,853, showing a decrease of £l4, leaving the total increase £7,977. Considerable reductions were made in the half-year on goods and passenger races between Glasgow and Edinburgh, Leith, and Granton, which should be borne in mind which considering the above increase. The working expenses amounted to £83,149, and were 40i per cent of the receipts. In the permanent way accounts £16,000, was charged, or £1,314 more than had been expended, and this sum was carried to the credit of the permanent way renewal account. After providing for interest, taxes, and fixed charges, the net balance was £72,082, from which the directors recom mended the payment of the 5 per cent preference dividends, amounting to £16,891, and of a dividend on the ordinary stock of the company at the rate of 4.1, per cent per annum, leaving a balance of £6BO. On capital account £23,048 had been expended for works, of which £18,283 was for work mens' houses at Cowlairs, and the new goods station at Sight hill. The works on the Queensferry branch were in progress, and £12,000 had been paid on this account. The working agreement with the North British Railway Company had been in operation since the Ist of August. It was to be hoped, however, that all the recent changes would issue in the greater peace and ccnsequent prosperity of the railway interest. By avoiding all useless and expensive schemes, and by using to the utmost extent existing lines, this desir able object might be best accomplished. The capital account showed that £5,077,504 had been expended. GRAND TRUNIS. OF CANADA. In reference to the accounts of this company for the half year ended June 30, which are now being audited, the directors announce that the net profits, atter paying all lease rents and interest on land charges—as well as a sum of about £B,OOO for compensation, in consequence of the serious accident at Belced-bridge—are sufficient to pay not only the interest on the first and second preference bonds and stocks, but also the interest on the third preference stock ; and that the report and accounts will be issued some days prior to the half-yearly meeting to be held on the 13th cf October next., RAILWAY PASSENGERS' ASSURANCE. The half-yearly meeting of thie company was held on Wednesday, at the offices, Cornhill ; Mr Farquhar in the chair. The report stated that the total sum received for pre miums on general and railway accident policies for the half year ending the 30th of June amounted to £37,979, against £31,656 for the corresponding half of 1863. After payment of the whole amount charged against revenue account dur ing the half-year, a balance was carried forward of £26,222, out of which interest at the rate of 4 per cent, per annum would be paid to the proprietors cm their paid-up capital, reserving the remainder to meet current risks. The com pensation paid during the half-year was, for 12 fatal cases, £5,900; and for 1,122 cases of personal injury,..£Bs,sls— together £21,485. The number of non-tatal acci dents had increased, and many of them consisted of injuries of a very serious nature. By the company's new act a railway accident was defined to be an injury caused by accident to the train by which the assured might be tra velling. The proportionate compensation for injury was regulated in accor .ance with the allowance under the ge neral accident policies, In reply to a question, it was stated that if Mr Briggs had been a holder of a general policy his case would have been covered, and his representatives would have been entitle , ' to receive compensation ; but if he had been a holder of a rail way accident policy the ticket would not have covered his case. The report was adopted, and the usual interest of 4 per cant, per annum was agreed to. THE GREAT ENGLISH RAILWAYS. THE NORTH-EASTERN. In referring a few days since to the flourishing enterprise known as the Midland, we said that we had left behind us the giants of the British railway world ; but if the system which we are now about to analyse is not exactly a giant of the first magnituda it may very nearly be classed in that category. Like the London and North-Western and the Great Western, the North-Eastern is a vast congeries of lines which yearly absorbs some of its more or less flourish ing neighbours. Thus in 1862 the North-Eastern effected an amalgamation with the Hull and Holdemess and the Newcastle and Carlisle, and in 1863 with the Stockton and Darlington, while in the same year this latter concern had absorbed the South Durham and Lancashire Union, the Eden Vale, and the Froaterly and Stanhope. Not only must all these lines be included in the general idea intended to be conveyed by the expression North-Eastern Railway, but the system also comprises the Great North of England, the Great North of England, Clarence, and Hartlepool Junction, and some other lines, the very names of which have been forgotten in the incessant changes to which rail•• way property is subject. The great features, however, which mark the progress of the North-Eastern in the three years which we propose to bring under review are the acquisition of the Newcastle and Carlisle in 1862, and the Stockton and Darlington in 1863. The length of way worked —assuming for the purposes of the comparison that the Newcastle and Carlisle, and Stockton and Darlington, were fused in the general system in 1861 and 1862, was as follows :—Dec. 31, 1861, 1,029 miles (690 double and 339 single)—Dec. 31, 1862, 1,080 miles (693 double and 387 single)—Dec, 31, 1863, 1,095 miles (688 double and 407 single). The extent of the North Eastern system is thus within 104 miles that of the Great Western. Upon this very considerable extent of railway the traffic acquired, the working expenses incurred, and the profits realized were as follows in 1861, 1862, and 1863 (the system having been gradually increased to the extent of 66 miles) : Revenue. Expenses. Profits. 1861 £2,631,507 £1,214,790 £1,416,717 1862 2,611,211 1,223,262 1,388,948 1863 2,792,795 1,330,198 1,462,597 Some depression appeared, it will be observed, in the re venue for 1862, in consequence of the commercial stagnation which prevailed in that year, but it will be seen that the ground lost was more than recovered in 1863. On comparing 1863 with 1861 we find an increase of £151,288 in receipts, but the working expenses were augmented in the same pe riod to the extent of £115,408, the progress of the net re venue being thus reduced to £15,880. Tho ratio of current expenditure to receipt was thus 47.62 per cent in 1363, against 46 . 16 per cent in 1861, showing an increase of 1.46 per cent in 1863. The increase is not very material, and the working charges are still extremely moderate ; still it is to be hoped 1864 (which has been a year of increased prospe rity for the company) will exhibit progress in the contrary direction. The financial arrangements of the North Eastern appear to be satisfactory, although some of the erdinary cap i tal i s still receiving only a moderate return. A creditable fea ture in the capital account is the very large amount of ordi nary stock which has been created—£ls,oll,976 out of a total of £22,579,796. The balance of £7,567,820 of share capital is accounted for as follows :—Preference stock, £7,348,143 ; d e b enture stock, 219,677. The total amount of loans outstanding December 31, 1863, was £7,438,004, so that thelaggregate capital raised by shares and loans was altogether £ 3 0,017,800, the entire amount authorised by a great number of acts of Parliament relating to the under. taking being £35,013,306, so that the company is still, both with respect to shares and loans, largely within its capital powers. The dividends paid upon the ordinary stock for 1863 wero as follows: 7.1 per cent upon £1,508,967 (this was the old Darlington capital)-61 per cent on £1,305,000 (of this, the old Newcastle and Carlisle stock, £150,000 is 4 per cent preferential stock, participating in any excess of dividend paid on the ordinary stock)-41 per cent on £7,374,765 (this is what is known as the Berwick stock)-- 41 per cent on £50,000-4 per cent on £3,219,020 (York stock)—£2 8s 91 per cent on £1,394,422 (Leeds stock)—. and nil on £159,801. The £7,348,143 of preference stock in existence at the close of 1863 may be subdivided as fol lows:-£440,570 at 8 per cent, £1,356,570 at 6 per cent £537,328 at 5 per cent, £608,720 at 41 per cent, £2,555,000 at 41 per cent, and £1,849,955 at 4 per cent. The £219,677 of debenture stock outstanding was composed of £55,670 at 41 per cent, and £164,007 at 4 per cent-the company, not withstanding rather strenuous efforts which it has made in this direction,jappears not have succeeded at present in converting much of its loan capital into debenture stock. Of the £7,438,004 of loans:outstanding at the close of 1863, £lOO,OOO bore interest at 41 per cent, £787,877 at 41 per cent, £977,008 at Elt per cent, £5,516,430 at 4 per cent, 51,939 at 31 per cent, and £1,750 at 3} per cent. It should be stated that, in addition to the £7,438,004 appertaining to the North Eastern proper, the company had, as lessees of the Hull and Selby and Great North of England, Clarence, and Hartlepool Junction, loans outstanding Dec. 31, 1863, to the further amount of £236,368, The credit of the com pany will be seen to have improved during the last two years, as at the close of 1861 the loan capital was floating as follows:-£52,108 at 5 per cent, £251,950 at 41 per cent, £27,000 at 41 per cent, £1,063,884 at 41 per cent, £1,325,748 at 41 per cent, £4,526,505 at 4 per cent, £114,464 at 34 per cent, and £lO,OOO at 3 per cent. The total of £7,373,859 thus represented refers, of course, to the North-Eastern, Newcastle and Carlisle, and Stockton and Darlington lines combined. The amount of debenture stock outstanding at the close of 1861 was £109,669, all at 4 per cent. The aggregate amount of capital raised at the close of 1861 by the three now united companies was £27,831,265 and as the corresponding total at the close of 1863 was £30,017,800 it follows that the addition made to capital in 1862 and 1863 was no less than £2,186,535. Of this addi tion it will be seen that £llO,OOB was debenture stock, and £64,145 debenture loans, leaving a balance 0f£2,012,382 of new ordinary and preference stock, of this amount £565,781 was ordinary and £1,446,601 preference stock. It is obvious that, with a creation of £2,012,382 additional stock, and an issue of debentures and debenture stock to the extent of only £174,153, the position of the debenture holders-at pre sent it is hardly worth while to take the debenture stock holders into account-has materially improved during the last two years. It is also worthy of note, that while it is a recognised principle that one-third of the capital of a public company may be fairly raised by loans, the North-Eastern has only acted on this principle to the extent of 2478 per cent, instead of 33'33 per cent. On the whole, the capital account of the North-Eastern appears to be in a sound posi tion, and the fact that additional ordinary capital was placed in 1862 and 1863 to the amount of £565,781 is a strong tes timony to the good repute and status which the undertak ing has acquired. This result is attributable, of course, to the vast amount of traffic which passes over the carefully developed system of the company. Thus, in the course of 1863, the number of passengers conveyed was 801,64.5 first-class, 2,830,137 second-class, and 7,312,591 third class, or 10,947,376 in all, while there were besides 2,721 holders of periodical tickets. The passenger trains also conveyed 3,579 carriages, 23,890 horses, and 33,417 dogs. There was also a considerable movement of live stock over the system, the company having conveyed last year 298,797 head of cattle, 948,519 sheep, and 129,158 pigs. The quantity of coal and coke transported was 9,073,725 tons, and of other minerals 2,473,459 tons, making a total of 11,547,184 tons. The North Eastern, it may be observed, has a far larger mineral traffic than the London and North Western, that company having last year carried 6,118,611 tons under this head. This result is of course due to the fact that the North Eastern accom• modates the great coal districts par excellence. The quantity of general merchandise conveyed over the North Eastern last year was 3,310,222 tons, against 3,156,511 tons in 1862. The movement of coal and minerals in 1862 was, as we should also have noted, 11,323,433 tons, while the number of passengers conveyed inthat year was 10,171,729. Returning to 1863, we may observe that of the 10,947,376 passengers conveyed, 614,342 used "ex cursion" tickets, while of the 614,342 excursionists 30,526 were first class, 24,354 second class, and 559,462 third class. The number of passenger trains run last year was 184,204, to which must be added 183,229 good trains; the total dis tance traversed by the passenger trains was 4,193,263 miles, and by the goods trains 8,628.756 miles, making the im mense aggregate of 12,822,019 miles, against 11,553,740 miles. The average passenger fares charged last year were 2.14c1 per mile first class, 1.49 d per mile second class, and 0.85 d per mile third class ; in the case of excursionists these rates were reduced to an average of 0.84 d per mile first class, o*43d per mile second class, and 0 . 30 d per mile third class ; no special express fares appear to be charged upon the system. The receipts from passen gers last year were £751,491,-viz, 150,865 first-class £237,285 second-class, £346,25£ third-class, and £l7, 83 periodical tickets. The quick trains also acquired £97,690 from excess luggage, parcels, dogs, &c., while £10,690 was derived from the conveyance of mails, making the total receipts of the year under the head of coaching £889,581. The earnings of slow trains amounted to £1,903,214, unim posing total which may be discomposed as follows :---Live stock, £61,961-coal and coke, £705,853-other minerals, £258,703-and general merchandise, £876,792. Adding the earnings of slow trains to those of quick trains we arrive at the total of £2,792,795, indicated above as the general re venue of the system for the year. It may be interesting to note that while the receipts from coaching were last year £889,581, in 1852, they amounted to £849,064- whiie the slow train service last year earned £1,903,214- against £1,763,147 in 1862. The passenger, &c., receipts of the system increased therefore last year £10,517, while the goods traffic expanded to the extent of £140,067. As we have shown above, the working expenses for 1863 was £1,310,195, and this great sum was made up as follows :- Maintenance and renewal of way and works, £240,512- locomotive power (including stationary engines), 430,590- repairs and renewals of carriages and waggons, £218,182- traffic charges (coaching and merchandise), £259,496-rates and taxes, £53,754-Government duty, £22,924-compen sation for personal injury, &c., 4874-legal and Parlia• mentary expenses, £8,253-and miscellaneous, £91,613, The amount set down fot compensation is moderate consi dering the vast business done, while the Parliamentary ex penses also display a fair consideration for economy on the part of the directors. The rolling stock of the company at the close of 1863 comprised 648 locomotives, 1,080 carriages used for the conveyance of passengers only, 423 other vehicles attached to passenger trains, 45,870 waggons of all kinds used for the conveyance of live stock, minerals, or general merchandise, and 437 other carriages and waggons, making the enormous aggregate of 48,455 distinct vehicles. No railway company in England, and probably in the world, can muster such an immense pare of rolling stock as the North Eastern. Even the mighty London and North Western is distanced in this respect, as it returned but 23,3U8 vehicles. The explanation of this state of affairs is not difficult ; the North Eastern conveys more coal than any other railway, and consequently requires more wag gons in which to transport the precious " black diamonds." A great deal of the business, however, done by the North Eastern appears to be transacted at very low rates-any how the 648 locomotives which were executing the behests of the traffic managers at the close of 1863 did not quite bring in the £lOO or £llO per week which engine earned on the Great 'Western or London and North Western. We have no long list of affiliated lines to place to the I credit or discredit of the North-Eastern. Most of the con cerns which have linked their fortunes with the system have done so for good and all, that is by absolute amalga mation. We may note, however, that the Great North of England, Clarence, and Hartlepool J unction, which is on lease only, had raised at the close of 1863 £72,218 ; and after meeting a small amount of preferential charges, £41,875 of ordinary capital, received 31 per cent. This small addition to the Already indicated capital of the parent company carries the total amount represented by th e N or th Eastern Railway to about £30,100,000 ; and, as var i ous ex tensions are still in progress, we may expect to see this aggregate increased to £31,000,000 in a year or two. It is not too much to say that the North Eastern is now a controlling power among the railways of North Yorkshire, Northumberland, Durham, and Cumberland. Its high credit enables the company to triumph over every obstacle ; and as years roll on it will doubtless acquire yet further importance and extent. One great cause of the prosperity which the system, in spite of many early errors, has attained is to be found in the amaz ing development of mineral wealth in the Cleveland dis trict. Some 20 years ago there was not a ton of iron made in this locality, but in 1864 the production of pig iron will be somewhere about 1,000,00 0 tons. Year by year the number of blast furnaces is being extended, and Cleveland industry marches on with the strides of a giant. The North Eastern has of course derived immense advantage from this state of affairs, and has, in fact, been redeemed by it from the collapse to which early extravagance would probably have condemned some of the lines now fused in the general system. No ordinary addition has also been made to the prestige of the system by the union with it, after some years unavailing local opposition, of the Newcastle and Carlisle and Stockton and Darlington lines. Far the sake of comparison we have laboriously united the earnings of all the lines in 1861, 1862, and 1863; but if we take the North Eastern alone in 1861, the North Eastern and New castle and Carlisle in 1862, and the North Eastern, New castle and Carlisle, and Stockton and Darlington in 1863, we arrive at the following results :-- Year. Revenue. Expe uses. Profits. 1861 .. £2,032,204 .. £933, 187 .. £1,099.01711 1862 .. 2,152,968 .. 984, 877 .. 1,168,091 1863 .. 2,792,795 .. 1,330, 198 .. 1,462,597 The addition of the Newcastle and Carlisle and the Stock ton and Darlington, aided by the general development of the system, thus increased the receipts. in 1863, as compared with 1861, by no leas a sum than £700,591, while the net profits were augmented to the extent of £363,580, As the York, Newcastle, and Berwick, or thoa York and North Midland, the nucleus of this now great and powerful con cern attracted little attention ; but as the North Eastern, with 1,100 mites of way in operation, wi th a revenue which has approsched £3,000,000 per annum, and with a capital of £30,000,000, the company has, by the force of organisa tion and union, worked itself into a form test place as a rail way power. The company seems to hal to a great destiny before it. It accommodates an essentially industrial district, which has by no means yet attained its f all development ; and the process of amalgamation is not ye t at an end The gentlemen who assemble in the board-i .00m at York to direct the affairs of this vast enterprise wil I have, year by year, more power vested in their hands ; a ad if they exer cise this power with moderation and disereti ion—, s 7ud it may be said to their credit that, on the whole, they do so already —they will not ;only deserve the thanks of an immense numbor of investors, but they will gasp contribute materially to the commercial greatness of a highly interesting portion of the empire. Charge of Fraud on the Stock-Exchange. Yesterday at 1 o'clock a young Hungarian, named Sig mund Ditrichstein, of gentlemanly appearance and manners was brought before the Lord Mayor and Mr Alderman Waterlow at the Justice-room or tho Mansion-house, charged with unlawfully obtaining by false pretences cer tain foreign securities for a large sum of money,with intent to defraud Messrs Borthwick and ethers, of Gresham house, Old Broad-street. The prisoner was described as of Pesth, in Hungary, and a commission agent, and he had that morning surrendered to a warrant emanating from the Mansion-house, and which had been granted upwards of a year ago. The prisoner is the person for whose apprehension, and for the recovery of the money alleged to have been fraudu lently obtained, a reward of £l,OOO was offered in Septem ber last. He was then described as of the Jamaica Coffee house, Cornhill, and of Worthing, and as having absconded, after procuring by means of fraud in London £8,370 in Bank of England notes—namely, two for £5OO, six for £2OO, 32 for £lOO, 39 for £5O, and 51 for £2O. He had been last seen in London on the afternoon of Saturday the 29th of August, 1863, and was supposed to have fled to the Continent. On the discovery of the alleged fraud the matter was placed in the hands of a firm of solicitors of high repute as criminal lawyers, and the city detective police were F. in motion, with a view to the arrest of the fugitive. One of the most experienced of that body, Sergeant Moss, was despatched to the Continent for the express purpose, accompanied by Ignatius Pollaky, a private detective and linguist, and the aid of the Foreign-office was also invoked. The photograph of the alleged defaulter was circulated far and wide, to aid in hie apprehension, and the artist, at or near Worthing, who happened to have a negative from which the impres sions were taken, is said to have realised a little fortune by the transaction. Eventually Ditrichetein was traced to Pesth, his native city, and apprehended with about £1,200 in his possession. There he was detained a long time, for reasons which were stated during the proceedings of yester day, and which accounted for his subsequent appearance in England. It is presumed that he had reason to reckon upon the forbearance of the prosecutors in returning to this country, or he would never have exposed himself to the risk of a criminal prosecution by voluntarily placing himself in their power, and the lees so as he had been exonerated by a tribunal in his own country. The case yesterday excited much interest, and the court was crowded during the pro ceedings. Mr Sleigh, addressing the Bench, said he appeared before them, instructed by Messrs Mallows and Muliens, in refer ence to the case of Sigmund Ditrichstein, the person who then stood at the bar, and who had surrendered to a war rant which was granted by Mr Alderman Waterlow on Sept. 1, 1863, charging him with unlawfully obtaining from the prosecutors, Messrs Borthwick and Co. and Messrs Hutchinson and Co., stockbrokers in this city, Egyptian, Turkish, and Brazilian bonds, to the amount of about £9,000, with intent to cheat and defraud them. The defendant,who was an Austrian, had resided in this country, and had en tered into certain transactions with stockbrokers to a con• aiderable amount for some short period before August 29 last year. On that day, having secured for himself a cer tain amount of credit and confidence, he obtained from the gentlemen whose names had been mentioned securities of the value, in the aggregate, which had been stated by giv ing them checks on the City Bank, he having in the bank at the time a mere trifling amount of money relatively speaking. Those checks were afterwards dishonoured, but before they were presented defendant had absconded. On information filed a warrant was granted for his apprehen sion, and he was traced to Hungary and arrested there. He was afterwards transferred to Vienna, upon which an ap plication was made by the solicitors to the prcsecution to the English Government, who interfered and claimed his extradition to this country, but there teing no treaty be tween Austria and England the Austrian Government de clined to part with the defendant. By the laws of Austria it appeared that the tribunals had power to try an Austrian subject for any offence he might have committed in any part of the world. That sounded somewhat strange to English ears, but so it was. The Austrian Government instituted a proceeding against the defendant, using all the informa tion they could obtain, and all of which was furnished by the solicitors to the prosecution in England. That proceeding in Austria extended ever a period of several months, and in the end the decision was that in the opinion of the Court there was not sufficient evidence on which to place the de fendant on his trial so as to secure his conviction, and upon that decision he was set at large, That being so, he (Mr Sleigh) had to call attention to certain matters which he should detail, and when he had done so he trusted ho should have the sanction of the bench for the course he was about to adopt. It appeared that defendant's friends and himself, through his legal advisers, communicated with the gentle men who represented the prosecutors on this charge, and in the ultimate result a letter was written by the defendant to the prosecutors themselves, which he should read. It was dated Vienna, April 11, 1864, and was as follows : " Gentlemen,—No one can regret more than myself the disastrous termination of my transactions with your firms; but I am now willing to do all that lies in my power to repair the wrong which was committed. I have been informed that a considerable sum has been recovered or received by you towards the liquidation of my debt to you, but that many of the Bank-notes obtained by me by pledging your bonds are still outstanding. lam ready to assist you in the recovery of these notes, and authorise you to retain and apply the same in further liquidation of your claim. What ever balance shall remain due to you respectively after cre. dicing whatever has been or may yet be received I do most solemnly promise you that I will pay as soon as my pecu niary circumstances will enable me to do so.—l remain, Gentlemen, your obedient servant, " SIGMtiND DITRICIISTEIN. "Messrs. Hutchinson and Co. " Messrs, Borthwick and Co." It was but right to state that through the assistance given by the prisoner about £6,000 had been recovered and re stored to the prosecutors. Upon its becoming known to them that the defendant might probably return to England they, through Messrs Mullens and Mullens, laid the whole of the facts before a most eminent Queen's counsel—his learned friend Mr Bovill—and himself. All those facts re ceived their most careful and anxious attention, with a view to determine whether, in their opinion, after what had oc curred, after the lengthened proceeding in Vienna, and after that which was substantially a dismissal of the charge by the authorities there, they would be justified in recom mending the prosecutors to put the criminal law in force against the defendant on his arrival in this country. They thought it due not only to the magistrate by whom the war rant for the prisoner's apprehension was granted, but to the whole commercial community of London, in the face of whom a great fraud was alleged to have been committed, to give this matter their most deliberate and serious considera tion before they came to a conclusion, and that conclusion was embodied in the opinion whioh he should read to the Bench : " After the failure of the proceedings in Vienna, and under all the circumstances which have occurred, we think that if Ditrich.stein be prosecuted the prosecution would probably fail ; and, upon the whole, we are of opinion that the brokers ought not now to prosecute. "W. BoVILL, "W. CAMPBELL SLEIGH. "Temple, Aug. 27." They had, ho said, thought it their duty to appear there, out of respect to the Court, and to the commercial commu nity of London, to state those facts, and to say why they were bound to withdraw from this prosecuticn ; and he trusted, under all the circumstances, that they would have the sanction of the Bench for the course they had adopted. Mr George, solicitor, said he desired to address the Bench for the prisoner, but before he did so perhaps the prisoner would be allowed to leave the dock. Mr Sleigh remarked that there was no case before the Court. Mr Alderman Waterlow said if the prisoner's solicitor wished to speak ho must do so before the prisoner was dis charged, for after ho was discharged there would be an end of the ease. The application for a warrant having been made there in private, as was usual in such cases, he thought it only fair to afford the prisoner or his attorney an oppor tunity of stating what they might think it desirable to say in reference to the matter. Mr George said he was instructed by the prisoner to state that he was entirely guiltless of the charge that had been made against him, that he had never defrauded the prose cutors at all, and that witnesses were in court to prove that as far as ho was concerned he had been a victim and not an offender. He might bo permitted to say that he had known Mr. Ditrichstein and had acted for him as solicitor for several years, and he believed ho was perfectly incapable of such an offence. There was one part of the case which assumed a very serious aspect against his client—namely, the Vienna letter, and he asked that it might be produced. The Lord Mayer, interposing, observed that the case might go on it the prisoner's solicitor wished that it should proceed. Mr Sleigh said Mr Bovill and himself had thought it was the more merciful course, after a man bad undergone a protracted trial in another country, not to press the crimi nal law too severely against him. Mr Alderman Waterlow said the Lord Mayor and him self had felt it right to permit the prisoner's solicitor to speak, because they thought when gentlemen of standing and respectability came before a magistrate and made a pri vate application, as in this case, for a warrant to arrest a person on a criminal charge, the magistrate having no rea son to doubt the bona fides of the applicants, if it was after wards found that the evidence was not sufficient to have justified the warrant being granted, the person against whom it had proceeded should have an opportunity of mak ing any explanations he might think desirable. He did not by that remark mean to cast the slightest imputation on the bona fides of the applicants in this case. On the other hand, he would caution Mr George not to say plaything then with reference to any ulterior proceeding, for when the prisoner left the bar he could institute such ulterior proceedings as he might think proper. Mr George said he was perfectly satisfied with the course the prosecutors had taken, He admitted they had been wronged, but his answer was that they had not been wronged by the prisoner, for he was entirely innocent. Mr Alderman Waterlow said, whatever ulterior proceed ing might be in contemplation, it was now only his duty, under the circumstances, to discharge the prisoner. The prisoner was liberated accordingly, and loft the court with a number of his acquaintances. SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. TlMER.—Perhaps the rule of living well and wisely cannot be better or more concisely given than in the advice to limit your claim to something short of what you believe to be precisely due, and never to strain your power over another to the full ex tent to which it is possible to exert it. Such a rule is, indeed, little more than a paraphrase of the fun damental doctrine of Christianity, for assuredly the line of conduct which we recommend is precisely that which we should wish others to adopt towards ourselves. We ought to distrust our own notions of what is absolutely our due. We ought to consider that we are judges in our own cause, and that we are therefore peculiarly liable to be mistaken. We are not likely to undervalue the merits of our own case, and shall probably demand all that is our due if we ask much lees than that to which we conceive ourselves entitled. But there is still a better reason. Every one, the strongest as well as the weakest, has an interest in maintaining those principles which exist for the protection of those who may be so unfortunate as to fall under the absolute domi nion of others. It is the folly of power to suppose that because it is strong now it can never meet with a stronger than itself, and that it has no interest in preserving the equitable principles which command us to respect weakness and to temper strength with moderation. These principles are the truisms of common life. How far are they from having be come the guides to the policy of States! Look at what is passing now at the Conference of Vienna. A small State has presumed, relying, no doubt, on a strong conviction of its own rights, to refuse obedi ence to the commands of a State twenty times more numerous in population, and probably at least as much more extensive in territory. The result which everybody must have foreseen has occurred, and Denmark, wounded and bleeding, lies at the feet of her enemies. We have often seen this before. We have seen Piedmont at the feet of Austria after the battle of Novara; we have seen France herself, after ravaging and devastating all Europe, and wasting the lives of a whole generation in the pursuit of glory, twice obliged to receive such terms as the victorious Allies chose to impose. In this case, had the voice of the Prussians been listened to, those terms would have been of the hardest and most hu miliating kind ; but wiser and more generous coun sels triumphed, and in this as well as in other instances the overthrow of the military force of the State was not followed by the ruin of the State self. The victors remembered that they were men, and, as men, subject to that law of eternal vicissi tude from which nothing human is exempt. But how has Denmark been treat ed ? Much in the same way as France would have been treated had Prussia exercised the same predominant influence over the alliance of 1814 as she does over the alliance of 1864. Harsh, arrogant, overbearing, puffed up with triumph in a contest in which it was physically impossible she could do anything but triumph, Prussia tramples upon the usag es of nations and the principles of international law with the same inso lent disregard of the opinions and feelings of mail. kind with which she sets her foot on the neck of her fallen adversary. She treats a whole kingdom like a city taken by storm, and moulds the whole practice of war upon a single one of its most appal ling and revolting incidents—upon the dark excel]. tion to those rules of mercy and justice which in other cases even the flushed soldier, rough and hard of heart, professes to make the guide of his conduct. These two terrible words, " Ville gaunt - 8, are supposed to let loose the human mind from all considerations of mercy and justice, and to Prussia all Denmark is a besieged town under the inability to resist her armies, and captured by assault. The first plan, indeed, was to charge Schleswig and Holstein with the expenses of their own libera tion—to mortgage them, in fac t , to Prussia as a pledge for the expenses incurred in the war. But this plan, as may be supposed, failed to conciliate the assent of Schleswig and Holstein themselves, which seems to have thought it hard to be required to pay the expenses of their own liberation. This policy, therefore, underwent a complete change, and " eventuated," as the Americans would say, in an exactly contrary conclusion—in the determination not only to make Denmark pay the expenses of the war, but also to give Schleswig-Holstein a rateable share in the property of the State, as, for instance, in the price paid to Denmark for the extinction of the Sound Dues. As regards the demand of an in. demnity for expenses, Prussia can no doubt pro duco strong and well authenticated precedents. No country in Europe knows better than Prussia what kind of war the great Napoleon, whom she is now adopting as her model, was in the habit of making, and how logically he deduced and how strictly he applied the inference that as in war the conqueror wins all, so, necessarily, the conquered lose all. But Napoleon, if he occupied and plundered Prussia, left her at least her existence, left her the power of deserting his foriunes when they began to turn, and siding with the enemy against whom she had fol lowed him as a humble auxiliary. But this demand of Prussia, countenanced though it may be by pre cedent, goes not to the humiliation, but to the abso lute destruction of Denmark. Part of the territory she takes by force ; the rest she allows to remain only on condition of paying for it a sum equally above Denmark's powers and its own value. The second proposal is still more outrageous. Prussia tears from Denmark two provinces, not by any colour or claim of right in herself, but by the power of the sword, simply because Denmark, by not ac ceding to her demands, has put her to the trouble of enforcing them. Woe to the conquered ! Bat it is a refinement of iniquity for Prussia to identify herself with the provinces which she has snatched from Denmark, and to make claims in their name which might have been just and reasonable had they con tinued part of the Danish monarchy. Schleswig and Holstein might have had a right to be considered in the expenditure of the money received in compensa tion for the Sound Dues, for they formed in some sense part of the Danish monarchy, and might claim a common benefit in consideration of their bearing a common burden; but when they are violently sepals rated from the Monarchy, when the King is com pelled to renounce his sovereignty over them, and they to renounce their allegiance to him, it is a grotesque exaggeration of tyranny to claim for them rights which they could only possess by virtue of their forming part of the Danish Monarchy from which they are severed. Let Prussia remember what i t was that brought the Allies to Paris, and she will find that it was not, after all, so much mere material force as the opinion of Europe and of all mankind, shocked and irritated by the constant and outrageous use of victory. The Prussian Monarch may believe himself exempt from that slow but un relenting tribulation that overtook the Emperor Napoleon in the vigour of his intellect and the zenith of his glory. Napoleon fought great battles and overthrew great Powers. Prussia has gained an easy conquest over an insignificant enemy, and may perhaps think the reaction will be slight be cause the action which provoked it was trivial. But she should not forget that though her exploits have been small her injustice has been gigantic, thatthe world contains much more than Denmark and Gera many, that alliances cemented by a common iniquity are not generally steadfast or durable, and that her Monarchy has already twice within the present cen tury found itself at the feet of a hostile Power,with which it was obliged to capitulate on the most humi liating terms. These things might inculcate pru dence if they cannot teach moderation, and the day may not be distant when Prussia may find herself compelled to implore that merciful consideration for herself which she now so ruthlessly refuses to ex tend to others. PosT.—While the war in America seems as far as ever from a decisive issue, American politics are has tening to a crisis. Mr. Lincoln's reckoning day comes with all the inevitability of death itself, and for good or evil he must meet the verdict of the remarkable people whose national honour and material interests have for nearly four years been at his mercy. His presidency will stand alone in history. There has been nothing like it before. It is only possible that there can be anything like it again. It has illustrated the reductio ad absurdum of federal government. The passions rather than the wisdom of a great republic have been exhibited by it, and the world has learnt what flagrant go vernmental abuses may be perpetrated in the name of popular liberty. Mr. Lincoln will go down to posterity as the man who could not read the signs of the times, nor understand the circumstances and interests of his country ; who went to war for an idea, and that an impossible one ; who could not calculate his own resources nor appreciate those of his enemy; who had no political aptitude; who plunged his country into war without a plan ; who failed without excuse, and fell without a friend. Such, we believe, will be the verdict of posterity upon the administration of the last in the long roll of presidents of the American Union. So he must he regarded, for the world has already made up its mind that, whatever new combinations may obtain on that vast continent, the reunion of North anti South on the basis of past days is almost as im possible as it is improbable. Mr. Lincoln found the Union distracted, he will leave it disintegrated. He found it out of health, and his own policy turned a comparatively slight ailment into a mortal sickness. He taught the high-spirited men of the South that there was no healing to bo looked for during his presidency—that they must bend or fight. He did not know the stuff of whir's the Southerners are made ; he thought them like Yankees, and nevi' allowed for the existence of qualities which, if not so dashing as smartness, have more chivalry and public virtue, and are cap Able of indefinite tension. He plunged, therefore, into war, expecting to crush out the soul of the best born people on the whole continent in ninety days with seventy-five thousand men. Instead of doing this, however, he has sacrificed a million of the flower of American manhood, carried death into nearly every family, loaded the country' with an enormous national debt, and shown to the world how powerless is a house divided against itself. Such crises put the American Constitution to a terrible test. Federal government itself is on its trial, and thus far comes out of it but sadly. It is proving itself incapable of bearing the strain put upon it. However it may have succeeded in the early days of the Union, when States were more dependent on each other than they now are, and common ties were closer, it seems certain that it is wholly unequal to the duties of government on a large scale. The larger the territory and the more rapid the increase of population—especially if it be a mixed population largely aided by immigration-- - ' the greater will be the multiplication of separate powerful interests, and the generation of distinctive qualities, habits, and modes of life. As long as these can be harmonised to a common note, aed swayed to one cantre, so long a Federal Government may prevail, but the moment interests clash, and powerful provocations arise, government is power' less, and passion rules the day. We have seen all this in recent American history. The American con stitution is good for an industrious people in time of prosperity and peace, bat when internal discords arise it has no power of repression or self-rectifice tion, and civil war is the logical result. It is tin' fortunate for Mr Lincoln that all this has happened in his time. It must have come sooner or later, but it might have come under the auspices of a more sagacious or a less stubborn man ; and then though nothing could have cured what was inherently' wrong, a wiser administration might have averted the terrible struggle which has thrilled the world with shame from one end to the other, and is still apparently as far as ever from a peaceful terrains' Lion. A portentous cloud in the North West —very small at present, but fast working its way up the sky—bids fair to give the Union as much trouble as the fierce tempest that has stained with blood the valleys of Virginia. While the shoddy traders and contractors of New York—a purely commercial city—are revelling:in the gains which the war has brought to their door, the productive States are groaning over the loss of profitable labour, the stagnation of markets, the grievous interruptions to industry, the price of gold, and the consequen ti discouragement of commercial enterprise. While a shoddy aristocracy in th e commercial capital i 0 squandering greenbacks in the purchase of extrave gent luxuries, the farmers of the North-West are becoming anxious about the necessaries of life. The conscription and the taxation are as yet hardl9 realised ; but a conviction is gaining ground tha t both will be felt before long in terrible force. An°, this makes the States of which we speak feel tha t they must either press for peace or secede from the Union. Dear as the idea of the origieal Union rag be, it is not so dear as life. Loyal as the North' West States may be, they are not prepared to seal' fice all the hopes that ever led them to settle whet° they are for a theory that flies in the face of circuta' stances and mulcts them of the fruit of their in; dustry for the sake of -keeping up the commercia l prosperity of a single city. These, then, may 1 / counted amongst the opponents of Mr Lincoln, all to them must be added an enormous aggregate , the best representatives of property and inteliigenc ° in all the States, who feel that if the war could b e prosecuted to success in a proper way it ought n° , to be interrupted ; but that, it the term of anoth e ` President is to be spent in slaughters as terrible,: taxation as serious, expenditure as ruinous, 0 0 4 results as barren as those which have marke d I°, , reign of Mr Lincoln, the result is not worth the cost ; and that eommon prudence dictates that whi w , the toleration of Mr. Lincoln has been a folly, per' severance in his policy would be a crime. COUNTRY MARKETS. BIRMINGHAM—THURSDAY. There was a limited supply of English wheat at roar- , !r- tat , to-day, and both old and new sold at 18 under last week prices ; in foreign the turn was in favour of the buYel l : Barley, oats, beans, and peas in fair sale , at previous rat,e'o; —English wheat was sold at 44s to 50 s for white, and Ito to 46s per 36 stone for red, Barley, new malting, 300, 0 38s per qr ; grinding, 25s to 28s Oats, 01d,11.24s to Sv r. per 30 stone ; Irish, 20s to 245. Beans, 42s to 44s per Peas, 38s to 40s per 36 stone. BURTON- ON-TRENT—THURSDAY. There was a fair show of wheat at our market to-daY9,l - A ' we quote last week's extreme prices, with a rather litatt', t trade. Barley at fully late rates . Oats and beans sold " a small advance. Old white wheat-465 to 52s I Old red wheat, to 4 4 5 : New do. 42s to 48s I New do. 1 ..40s tong Malting bar1ey....345 . t0 37s I Oats 2oe to ,%7, ; Grinding d0.....263 to 30s I Beans 3 Bs t° 41 BRISTOL—THURSDAY. tl 3 A fair show of English wheat in our market to-day , the demand for which ruled firm, at tully last week's V e t tations, In Foreign very little business doing at forto prices. Barley less in demand than usual at this ti tuo,° , the year, and unaltered in value. Oats in large s u p Pl o and a free trade. Beans rather cheaper. Peas very 0 1 ° Maize dull, with easier prices. MANCHE STER—TriuRsDAY. • 3 0 A limited attendance at our market to-day, and all W o g of English wheat declined la per qr. For flour late pl„,1 were asked, but not obtainable. Oats firm in value, oatmeal quite as dear. Beans ruled at last week's extra" prices. Indian corn Gd per qr lower. EDINBURGH GRAIN—WEDNESDAY. 0 To• day there was a fair supply of country wheat. Sa good, and 6d to is per qr advance. Wheat on the top 3s 6d down average 2s 3d 1.11 3 ° Barley on the top Os 6d down average Os 9d 11P• Oats on the top is Od down. average Os 7d 11P• Beans on the top Os 6d up. average is 11(1,0' Average Prices. ii Wheat.. Barley 32s ld i Beans .. 400 1 Total Supply and Sales. Wheat .. 717 qrs Sold 656 qrs Barley... 619 qrs Sold 591 qrs Oats Beans lO6 qrs Sold 46 gra to Town• made flour sells as follows :—White, 38s; 0 superfine, 36s ; superfine, 34s ; fine, 325. Foreign Mail Packet List. MAILS DUE. 0, Australia and Mauritius, via Southampton Sept , 0, via Marseilles Sept. Brazil and Cape Verde, by British packet. Cape of Good _Elope, Ascension, and St. Helena S S e e p p t t. .. ; i : China, Penang, and Singapore, via Southampton Sept. ;I, via Marseilles Sept. Falkland Islands lO, Gibraltar, via Southampton Sept. 0 ' India (Calcutta), and Ceylon, via Southampton SoP 4. " 0 , via Marseilles Sept. 1 0, India (Bombay), via Southampton .. —. via Marseilles S e pt. i , Portugal.... Sept. 1, Malta, Egypt, and Aden, via Southampton Sept. A. via Marseilles Sept. 1 4• Newfoundland .. Sept. Oporto and Vigo .... U. S. and British N. America, by Brit. packet.... Sept .._ . . by U.S. packet.... 9, by Canadian packet.SeP" 5 All pßrts of West Indies, including Chili, Peru, I Sept. California, and British Columbia.. [ADVERTISEMENLA—HoIIoway's Ointment and Pi1 1 1: o i The Best Way.—To gain any end there are often 0 d ways, but there is always a best way. This statetoio applies with wonderful force to Holloway's remedies, 1113 0 0 overcomes ill health by driving noxious matters frall A bf froire, by repairing broken or injured structures, flo'ipl° establishing regularity of action. This is the only flativ, me thod of combating diseases and securing sound b With pure blood, good digestion, strong nerves, and P, e'o o f unc tional order most maladies may be vanquishe d iflg strength surely re-established. The balsamic and her o 10 qu alities of Holloway's Ointment render it invaluA b ;ig' the nursery for healing cuts, scratches, or sores, for AV ing inflammations, reducing swellings, or cleansing healthy skins. - _ 4 London: Prtned and Prtiffshed by WILLIAM AN J Itu of No. 112, Strand, I'rinter, at THE SUN Oine e , do tl Strand, in the Precinct of the 3avoy, the Friday, September 9,1864, Births. of Cof: FOLEY.—On the sth inst., at Leamington , the wif e lain the Hon. Fitzgerald Foley, R.N., of H..fd•P' venge, of a son. Hiexs.—On the Bth inst.. at Oakfield, Streatham-11A rod Francis Hicks, of a daughter. Al", MEnEDITIL—On the 6th inet,, at Surrey Lodge, park. Sydenham, the wife of George Meredith , ' LLB., of a son. Marriages. o° l' BRADFORD—LANE.—On the 3d inst., at Hove, x,r.,..,,iettfl George N. J. Bradford, Eeq., Bth (King'sfiLegr youngest eat of Colonel Bradford, to Alice Jul'i'Vr youngest daughter of the late John Lane, EErj• „ ton Grange, Essex. olf c° o Ch SALMON—BIRCH.—On the 6th inst., at Trinity tl:4 Bath, Captain H. R. G. Salmon, to Harriet Fraociili only daughter of Licut.-Col. W. C. Birch, of the IA Army. Deaths. ,AlCl eti EAGLE.—On the Bth inst., Mr. Jas. Eagle, organ 01 199, Hackney-road, agd 66. „.,ttef e GUTTERES.—On the 7th j e ust., at Sidmouth, Geo. u" Esq., of 24, Thurloe-square, aged 44. ROCIIE.—On the 4th inst., in Dublin, Stephen Esq., of Rye-hill, co. Galwa y, aged 61. i otl3° lza - ROLT. On. the 6th inst., at 52, Harley-street, -,-- 0 vile of John Rolt, Esq., M.P. TAPLEY.—On the 4th inst., atWalmer, Kent, Mr. Tapley, of Lower Thames.street,